Tulle Wreath Tutorial

I'm sure it happens to everyone on Pinterest at some point.  Becoming so obsessed with a DIY project or recipe pin that you must try it ASAP.

When I saw the pin for this tulle wreath:

that obsession took hold.  I was thinking of design ideas for the set of Rowan's Christmas photos and after I saw it, I went out the next day to buy tulle and a foam wreath form.  I apologize to the person who originally posted this photo to the 'net.  Pinterest wouldn't let me connect to the URL address for fear of a virus or some other nasty consequence.  A Google search turned up nothing.  I tried.  

To make this wreath you'll need:

~ 12" styrofoam wreath form.  Or check out this idea on how to make a super thrifty form. 

~ 10 m of tulle.  Check the prices at the fabric or craft store before you purchase.  Sometimes tulle can look similar but have a whopping price difference.  I bought mine for $2.50 per meter at Fabricland.

~ Scraps of white cotton fabric; enough to cover a 2 m length

~ Sharp scissors

~ Hot glue gun

~ 2" wide satin ribbon

I didn't plan on making a detailed tutorial, so I failed to take photos of each process.  Hopefully I don't lose you.  Once you start tying the tulle knots, this wreath is a perfect 'movie watching' project.  Easy, methodical and doesn't get too messy.

Cut fabric into 3" wide strips and wrap around the wreath form, gluing at each end.  Neatness doesn't matter, but you need to make sure your wreath is evenly covered.

Cut the tulle into 4" wide strips.  I left my tulle folded to make this part go faster.  I made my tulle strips 18" long, because I wanted a whispy, whimsical look.  

Tie two tulle strips in a double knot and position at the top of the wreath. 

Some of my strips ended up being a little lot shorter, but whateves.  Whimsical, right?

Scrunch the tulle close together until you've used up all the strips or have run out of room on the wreath.  Straighten the knots, trim the tulle to be somewhat even (or very even...it's all about preference) loop a long ribbon around the form and you're done!

You can fasten the ribbon in a bow as demonstrated in the pink wreath above.  I tied my ribbon around the wire on the back of the picture frame.

Refresh the wreath each year (or each season!) by changing the colour of the ribbon, adding a string of beads, a cluster of fabric flowers...etc, etc.

I don't buy many Christmas decor items new from a store, but at a recent trip to IKEA I couldn't resist these little candle holders.  The glittery tree to the left is just a paper cone smothered in glue, teeny beads, sequins and glitter.  Fun project but m-e-s-s-y!  

I might not do another blog post until the new year.  If I get my act together and make some stockings (my 'Winter Holidays' pin board is full of ideas!) I might share them.  Most of the things I'm making are gifts...so it'll have to wait.

How did the photo session go?

Very well!  Thanks Kerri for being so AWESOME.

Happy Monday!

Take Out Box Advent 'Calendar'

Bah haha.

This blog post is so late it's not even remotely funny.  Who writes about an advent calendar on the third day of December?  Moi.  Lame sauce.  To comfort my tardy soul, I should explain that this project comes together lickety split; you can have a new 'calendar' in one evening.  Or: pin it and save it for next year!

I decided on November 27th that I needed a new advent calendar.  The old one had teeny little pockets that held Lindt truffles perfectly.  Chocolate and a two year old with a memory like an elephant?  Nuh-uh.

Besides, I wanted to make this advent about doing things rather than getting treats.

For this project you will need:

24 take out boxes (I used 16 oz and 8 oz sizes)
Decorative paper
Cutting tool (like a Cuttlebug or similar) or pre-cut numbers
Circle cutter or punch in 2" and 1.5" sizes
Clear glue
24 items to place in the boxes

Cut out 24 x 2" circles and 24 x 1.5" circles out of decorative paper.  My paper came from this book of scrapbook paper, available at Michael's.

Cut out numbers (if you need to).  My crafting took place at 10pm on November 30th (hence the crap photo), I laid my numbers out to make sure I had cut the right amount (late night crafting = increase in errors) before packing my Cuttlebug away.  I used the 'Olivia' alphabet and number set.

Glue the circles and numbers on each box.

Fill with fun things!  I stuffed the boxes with tree ornaments, finger puppets, stickers, muffin liners, cookie cutters, and lots of activity tags.

The activity tags included:

Attending the Santa Claus parade
Skating (will be the first time!  Exciting for a mom who is an ex-figure skater)
Baking cookies
Baking muffins
Reading Christmas books
Watching Christmas movies
Having hot chocolate
Colouring in Christmas-themed colouring books
Making cards for family and friends

I had various ideas for displaying these little boxes: hang from a tree, string up like a garland, etc.  But ultimately, convenience and ease prevailed and I stuck them on top of a white fabric blanket on the piano.

Paired with my vintage bottle brush trees, I think they look pretty cute up there.

Today, Rowan and I have a date with a cookie cutter and cookie dough. Happy Monday!

One Hour Coffee Cozy

I'm not going to take a survey, but I'm willing to put money down that every knitter likes a project that can be done in one sitting.  One hour-long TV show, one (or two) cups of coffee or tea.  And for Mamas - one nap time.

These little coffee (or tea...or hot chocolate, or whatever it is you drink in winter) cup cozies are quick, easy and they use up scrap yarn.  Plus, they're pretty darn cute.

This is my second-ever attempt at writing a knitting pattern; so if you try it and end up making a headband...please tell me.

You will need:
5mm straight knitting needles
Worsted weight yarn
Tapestry or wool needle
Co-ordinating ribbon

Skill level: Beginner

Abbreviations:
k - knit
p - purl
yo - yarn over hook
k2tog - knit two stitches together
stockinette stitch - knit the 'right side' and purl the 'wrong side'

Pattern:
Cast on 30 stitches
Rounds 1 - 5: work ribbed pattern of k1, p1    
Rnd 6: purl, increase 3 stitches evenly across row; 33 stitches
Rnds 7 - 9: knit
Rnds 10 and 12: purl
Rnd 11: knit
Rnd 13: k1, *yo k2tog* repeat * to end.
Rnd 14: purl
Rnd 15 - 22: continue in stockinette stitch
Rnd 23: bind off, leave a long tail (30cm or 12") for sewing the seam.

When you've cut your long sewing tail, you'll have something that looks like the photo above.

Fold right sides together and sew seam.  Fasten off and weave in tail.

Weave your ribbon in and out of the little holes made in Round 13.  I would suggest sliding the cozy over a cup before knotting the ribbon; you don't want to tie it too tight!

To prevent the ends of the ribbon from fraying, melt the cut edge ever so slightly with a lighter.

Now that you're done, what will you do with it?  Gift it away?  Keep it?  Make another?  I think a little touch of homemade is on everyone's wish list for Christmas.  I would pair this cozy with a coffee shop gift card.  And just to be extra cute, ask for an extra cup, slide the cozy on and pop the card inside!

Felt Birthday Banner Tutorial

A homemade banner has been on my must-make list since Rowan's 1st birthday.  He's turning two next week and I got my act together and made him a felt and ribbon banner to fit into his dino-themed party.  Yay me!

To make this retro-style, uber neat banner, you'll need:

Felt; 7 sheets (8.5 x 11") each of two co-ordinating colours and 4 for lettering.  An iron and ironing board, iron-on transfer paper (such as Heat N Bond or Wonder Under), sharp scissors, lettering (I used 'Airplane' which you can download for free if you type in '0' for the donation amount.  It's kind of a jerk move, but I have a hunch that a lot of people do it), 5.5 m of 4cm (6 yds of 1.5 inch) wide ribbon and a pencil. 

Depending on whether you want to sew the pennants on or glue them, you'll also need straight pins and a sewing machine with co-ordinating thread or fabric glue.

Let's get started!

Print out your lettering (I used airplane in size 500) and cut them out.  I noticed that the 'p', 'd' and 'b' were essentially all the same (just flipped around...it was a "duh, Anne" moment) when I cut them out, so you can save paper if you use this font and just type out one of them.  I also cut out a dinosaur (a brontosaurus - I'm becoming reacquainted with dinosaur species) silhouette just for kicks.

Arrange them on top of the paper side of the transfer paper reversed and trace around them with the pencil. 

Cut around a few groups of letters (don't cut out the letters yet) and arrange them on top of the felt.  Iron according to the transfer paper directions. 

Cut out the letters.

Cut a large triangle out of the coloured felt, I left about 5cm (2") off the bottom. 

I wanted to do a blue-green-blue-green pattern with the dinosaur on a ivory pennant at the end of 'happy'.  To make sure I didn't fudge it up, I layed out all the triangles in the pattern and placed the letters in order.

Peel off the paper backing and iron letters onto the pennants.

Be sure to place the letters on the same spot on each pennant.  I used the first 'h' to keep me on track.

The dinosaur's head was a little too tall and would have been run over by the sewing machine.  I left it un-ironed until after the banner was sewn.  If you're gluing the triangles on, it doesn't matter.

My banner ended up being H-U-G-E, so I split up the 'happy' and the 'birthday' on seperate lines of ribbon.  I decided I wanted the ribbons the same length, so I made up the 'birthday' banner first.

Place the pennants side-by-side on the ribbon, or over-lap them if you prefer.

Pin on each end of the triangle.  Obviously if you're gluing, you can skip that part.

Sew with a straight stitch on the top and the bottom of the ribbon. 

Iron the dino head.

 Well done!!  Relish your birthday banner success.

Monogrammed Tea Towel Tutorial

I received a virtual kick in the tush last week from a fellow blogger.  She didn't think my once-a-month blog posts were sufficient.  I have to agree with her.

I've been busy.  I know that's a lame, catch-all excuse.  But, it's the honest truth.  B-U-S-Y.  Yeah, click that link.  You'll see that I've completely lost my mind and deluded myself into thinking that someone (or maybe a couple of someones) will actually want to BUY the things my sewing machine spews out.  Go ahead and 'like' my Facebook page too.  Sometimes I give stuff away on there.

I managed to snag an hour to make up a little personalized gift for a bridal shower I'm attending tomorrow.

Round up the following:

Tea Towels
Co-ordinating cotton fabric
Iron-on adhesive (I used Heat 'n Bond)
Letter templates
Iron
Fabric scissors
Tape

Optional: needle (or sewing machine) and thread

Print out lettering off of your computer to your desired size.  Cut around the letters (don't cut out the letters yet) and tape them to the paper side of the iron-on adhesive.  If you are using letters that have a right side, like 'P' or 'K', be sure to tape them down reversed.  Otherwise you'll stomp your feet and yell "Aaaahhh! I have backwards letters!"

Place the adhesive, paper side up, on the wrong side of the co-ordinating cotton fabric.  Iron according to package instructions.

Using the fabric scissors, cut out lettering. Peel the paper backing off.  Please excuse the gross, chipped nail polish.  See!?  No time!

If your tea towels have come folded, be sure to unfold them and iron out any creases.

Place lettering at your desired location.  I left my tea towel folded in half (length wise) and placed the letters in the middle.

Iron again according to package instructions.  You can either stop here, OR add a little bit of stitching.  If you don't own a sewing machine, you may want to add a neat little back stitch around the edge of the letters with an embroidery needle and thread.

I chose to use a sewing machine, since I was short on time.  Change your presser foot to a satin stitch foot (clear plastic) and switch up your stitches to a short zig-zag.

The satin stitch foot allows you to see what you're doing a little better.  You'll need to stop and pivot the fabric around tight corners.  Be sure the needle is in the fabric before lifting the presser foot!  I ended up doing a lot of manual hand-wheel turning around the 'H'.

Snip threads and you're done!

Since my tea towels came in a set of four, I thought I'd make up two animal silhouette towels as well.  'H' is a horse riding instructor and 'T' has a beloved pit-bull cross.  I was afraid the horse silhouette might come out looking like a donkey...but I think it looks like a horse.

Sweet beans.  I'm a teensy bit peeved about the lines that show through little miss pit-bull.  Next time I'll use a darker fabric.  Or pattern-less towels.  Sew and learn.

Have a mah-velous weekend!